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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Dallas Birth Center

Have I mentioned that I'm pregnant again? No? Oh. Well surprise!! I'm 25 weeks pregnant! It's my second baby and we are super excited about having our second girl!! We are due June 3rd and I think it really hit me today after I walked into our guest room and saw all the furniture that is going to have to be moved out of the room. Eek. Nothing has really been done yet for the new addition, but one thing I am glad we have decided on, is that we are going to be delivering our baby girl at the same place our first child was born at, the Dallas Birth and Women's Center.

Whenever anyone asks me who my doctor is or which hospital I will be delivering at, it's kind of funny to see the expression on their faces when I tell them we are going to deliver at a birth center, or that I don't have a doctor, I have a midwife. I'm sure images of some 15th century witch doctor midwife comes to their heads, but imagine delivering your baby in a room like this:

See that huge armoire there? Hidden behind those doors is all the high tech fancy baby medical equipment to resuscitate, do the Apgar tests, etc. So even though it is all homey and cozy, they do have a lot of medical things tucked away.

This is the second room where we went for aftercare..nice right?

And check out the examination room where I have my monthly appointments- much different than the sterile white walled rooms of regular doctor offices:

Why did we chose the birth center route ?

Well, I have always been one of those who is not a fan of the germ infested hospitals. I've always thought hospitals are for sick people, not healthy pregnant women and new babies. Having a baby is not a medical emergency (as long as it's healthy), so there is no need to deliver one at a hospital. Plus, I have always been one of those healthy fanatics who tries to eat organic and no preservatives, or food additives. I try to avoid synthetic medications for me and my future baby as much as possible, so I really wanted to have a drug-free birth.

So when it came down to deciding on where to deliver a baby, finding an all natural route seemed the best option for us. Plus, I was sold on having a drug-free delivery hearing that epidurals can slow down labor (and so can laboring laying down). I'll do whatever it takes to have a baby fast! And it worked for my first baby, delivered her 1.5 hours once I arrived there. I also loved laboring in their large bath tub- it definitely made my contractions less painful.

And as for the midwives, they are Certified Nurse Midwives, that means they hold master's degrees in nursing and are Registered Nurses- this also means they have prescriptive authority, like an Advanced Nurse Practitioner. These midwives are no longer the witch doctors most people think of, they actually went to school :)

We also love their philosophy of delivering a newborn. They want the father as involved as possible, so that means the dad gets to 'catch' the baby. My husband actually pulled my baby out of me (from a side angle) with the midwife supervising of course. He placed her right on my chest as they are also big advocates of skin to skin.

They also believe in delayed cord clamping, as letting the extra cord blood continue to pulse to the newborn can reduce risks for developing conditions such as respiratory distress, chronic lung disease, brain hemorrhages, anemia, etc.

I was also able to take a bath with my newborn an hour after birth to bond with her, and my husband was also there to help bathe our new baby girl! You are only able to give a newborn a bath under water the first few hours, so it was extra special we were able to do that.

They also allow you to bring whatever food you want, during labor and after. I was in no mood for food during my labor, but hey, if you want to eat a Snickers bar during labor, by all means :)

We were also able to go back home 6 hours after I delivered, so it was nice to be in my own bed. Of course I was on bed rest for 3 days as is routine policy and I loved how my birthing assistant made a house call 3 days later to check on me and the new baby! At our 6 day check up, my little Luna also made her permanent foot stamp on their wall of baby feet:

They also had a newborn tea a few weeks later with all the new moms there and it was so nice to chat with other new moms and meet their newborns. Check out my baby girl below from the Materna Tea below (she's the one in the red diaper):

I can't wait to deliver my next child at the birth center and hoping we have a healthy pregnancy and delivery. If not, then there is a great hospital across the street (Baylor Dallas) if needed, but here's to hoping!

This is such a great place! I hope I am able to deliver completely naturally when I am pregnant. Having had surgery on my uterus in the past, it may not be an option. The natural way is what I would prefer.